U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) publicly stated on Thursday that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had notified him of surveillance on his phone conversations with Virginia State Senator L. Louise Lucas. According to the congressman’s official statement, the measures are being carried out as part of a broader investigation into corruption schemes in which Lucas, a longtime legislative veteran, is implicated.
Subramanyam says both agencies have informed a number of Virginia political figures that their phone lines are also being monitored in connection with the investigation. In his press release, the congressman characterized the window during which his calls were being tracked as highly suspicious, and leveled sharp criticism at President Donald Trump and the DOJ, which he says are carrying out surveillance on a sitting member of Congress.
The Justice Department under the Trump administration has turned into his personal law firm, and his former personal attorney is now going after the president’s political opponents with a clear axe to grind, Subramanyam emphasized.
Subramanyam clarified that his calls were under surveillance from March through May. He noted that this was precisely the period during which the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, of which he is a member, was pressing hard to secure testimony from former Attorney General Pam Bondi. In Subramanyam’s view, the wiretapping was aimed at intimidating Democrats and undercutting their ability to offer meaningful pushback to Trump’s policy agenda.